Soul Eater: The Underworld Awakens
by rerocks89
Summary: This story is set during the events of the anime/manga right after the kishin Asura's revival. The story follows a new meister weapon pair as they fight against the madness that has swept across the world as well as an organization that wishes to use that madness to cultivate their power and enforce a new world order all their own.
1. Initiation

Soul Eater: The Underworld Awakens

Part 1: Initiation

The heat wave encompassed Death City as the middle of summer drew closer and closer. The sun that normally sat high laughing maniacally in the sky was unusually exuberant today. The streets that were normally bustling with people were now dead and barren with everyone striving to stay indoors to escape the unbearable heat that was being emitted. Even the market which even in the worst of climate conditions would have one or two merchants or street vendors on it trying their hardest to sell their wares was completely decrypted. Suddenly a blur rushed past in an instant and dashed behind the cover of the shadows of a nearby ally. The figure was clad in a long black cloak and hood to completely hide its face and features then proceeded to walk down the alleyway and stopped before a stone wall. It produced a long cylindrical item and jammed it into the wall. There was a flash of light, a grinding noise, and once the object was removed a marking could be seen barely visible to the naked eye. The marking was that of a circle with a caged phoenix imbedded within it. The phoenix in the marking was being lowered into a grave that had the souls of demons floating around in it and they are all reaching up ready to accept their trapped prey. With the marking set in place the figure grunted in an unearthly tone, "Four down sixteen to go." And then with a cast of his cloak disappeared into the blackness of the ally.

….

"Professor Sid I can't do this. There is now way that I can answer this question!"

The student's cry echoed throughout the tiny classroom, bouncing off the cream-colored walls and reverberating back to the large oak desk at the front of the room behind which sat the one zombified professor of the Death Weapon Meister Academy, Sid Barrett. He was a tall man, with broad shoulders and large arms. He had the look and posture of a soldier and strode across the room to the student's desk within a few strides. He had once been quite handsome but now all his skin suffered necrosis and was a sickly black and blue, his mouth a gaping hole with large teeth clenched together, his eyes were sockets that were cold and unfeeling, and in the middle of his forehead hung a bandana to cover the hole that had been the mark of his demise. Despite the appearance, the student did not flinch as the large creature put his hand down on the front of the kid's desk and looked him straight in the eyes and said, "I'm sorry but you will have to solve these problems on your own. I was never one to hand out answers to my students. That is the sort of man I was. But if you are truly struggling I would suggest refereeing to page 42 of the Purification Guide and reading the contents of the passage again." With his explanation concluded the dead man returned to his desk, sat himself down in the large backed chair and picked up his magazine from where he had left it and began to read again; when suddenly a loud automated announcement rang out over the intercom.

"Professor Sid to the dueling arena. Professor Sid to the dueling arena."

The undead professor rose from his seat in an instant, yelled to his class to keep working on the problems on the board and that when finished they should begin reading the next section of the text, and then dashed out of the room. The halls of the DWMA were quite extravagant and extensive. Each one had lines of doors that lead into each of the different classrooms and would then open up into large chamber like rooms with multiple routes that could be taken. Some went up to the higher floors, others went down to the lower sections and some might even lead you to the outside of the building. Many new students would wind up finding themselves hopelessly lost their first few months of studying at this academy but once you know where everything is then it is a simple task of having the stamina to get to the section of the building on time. The dueling arena was located on the fourth-floor east wing and Sid was now on the second floor in the northern section of the school. He quickly took the fastest route he knew to get to the east sector having to rush around many students who had just finished their classes and were walking to their next one or were on their way to some other location in the school. As he approached the arena he could hear blades clashing, the sound of ice and fire abilities being used, smell the sweat along with what could only be described as burned hair or electrified cloth, and could feel the power of the souls that were in the heat of battle being pushed to the limit of their abilities. The professor dashed into the room and ran straight up to the instructor of that class for the day, Franken Stein, and said, "You needed to see me Professor Stein?"

The professor that Sid had just ran up to was a piece of work indeed. He was a slightly older man, probably about in his early thirties to Sid's late twenties, he had the look of a scientist with large round rimmed glasses and a patched-up lab coat and shirt that were stitched together using multiple different pieces of fabric. The man himself was held together in a similar fashion. Every part of his body had stitch marks crossing over them, marking left by the experiments that he had performed upon himself. Most noticeably was the large screw that ran through left side of his head close to the temple and proceeded to protrude out the other. But the worst of it all was that behind those glasses were eyes that even in times of content had a sadistic and cruel aura about them which Sid knew all too well. But the patch-worked professor merely turned on his chair which had a congruence with the clothes that Stein wore and smiled a rather pleasant smile before stating, "I called you here because I wanted to show you something rather interesting and for you to give me your thoughts on it." And then with a gesture of his hand presented the scene that was happening before the two men.

The scene was a battle between two boys about in their late teen years. The one on the right was tall, with a muscular build and a dark tan all over his body. He brandished a large heavy battle hammer and with each swing the very air seemed to be crushed by the weight and power that the hammer had as it rushed through it. The other on the left was of a smaller stature with a strong athletic build that accentuated his nimble frame. He had no obvious weapon in his hands and quickly took stock of the situation and dove out of the way as the hammer came barreling past nicking the tips of his jet-black hair. The evader followed through in his roll and performed a handspring to launch himself back onto his feet just as the larger man began to turn and bound after him.

"That was an impressive dodge and recovery but it seems to be quite one sided with a weapon meister going against an unarmed combatant." Sid commented turning to Stein as he spoke.

"Just keep watching and you will see what I am talking about." Replied Stein without turning to Sid as he waved for him to observe the fight again with his hand.

The muscular attacker had reached the recovered defender and instead of the horizontal swipe he had used before he swung the hammer grace fully over his shoulder and under his arm into a powerful underhanded uppercut. The smaller man sidestepped the uppercut but was met with a side blow to the kidney by the shaft of the large hammer not realizing that the larger man had feinted the rest of the uppercut and had readjusted his hand position to allow him to spin the hammer sideways and catch the other off guard. The blow while not extremely powerful still had enough force to knock the athletic combatant backwards and to the side, clutching his ribs as he tumbled to the mat. The attacker did not delay in his assault and rushed after his tumbling opponent certain to finish him off while he was off balance. He went for a strong overhead swing that even if he missed the shockwave that would be created when the hammer hit the ground would cause a staggering effect on the smaller opponent which would allow for him to follow up with a sequential strike. But to the striker's surprise the other man instead of avoiding the huge swing dove straight forward and positioned himself at his feet. The unarmed man then launched himself up off the ground feet first. His feet connected with the hammer at the point in which the head connected to the shaft. There was a crackle of electricity as the heavy swing was forcefully rebounded and forced back upward. The man wielding the hammer had a look of shock on his face as his weapon was thrown back over his head, his arms struggling to keep hold of it, leaving his large midsection completely exposed. This was the exact position the other combatant wanted him in and proceeded to into a flurry of attacks to the vital points of his opponent: two punches to both sides of the abdomen right on the underside of the ribcage, a knife hand to the underside of the arm that held the hammer aloft causing it to clatter to the floor, and a force palm to the center of the solar plexus with enough force to send the other man flying to the other side of the mat. There was a flash of light as the hammer that had once been laying on the floor immobile transformed into that a similarly large built man who ran over to his companion who lay groaning on the floor about seven feet away.

Sid's eyes widened in surprise as he fully took in what he had just witnessed. "Damn, that was impressive. He took out that meister without the use of a weapon?"

"Not quite. While yes the boy did not have any obvious physical weapon in his hands he was not out there acting alone." Replied Stein as Sid turned to him a questioning look in the sockets that were his eyes. "Look closely at the forearms on the boy still standing over there" Sid did as he was told and looked over at the boy and noticed that on his forearms were a pair of gauntlets that looked to be the type typically worn by swordsmen as protection.

"No, it can't be. No one has ever been able to control her power. Every meister in the NOT class that tried and even the level two meister that tried." He paused. "Well, it did not work out well for them."

"Oh, but it is. Those would be the infinity gauntlets. A class weapon type completely unique, for that it does not possess any sort of blade or energy abilities but instead has the ability to provide defensive protection for its wielder by channeling soul energy directly to the point that is being assaulted as well as being able to generate a seemingly infinite amount of wavelength directly into the soul of its meister which will allow for a huge spike in physically prowess."

"Who is the meister then? I mean I have never seen him in any of the classes here at the academy nor have I heard about such a boy around the town. And how did these two meet?"

"I am not sure on who that boy is but as to how the two met, this is the story that was told to me by the people involved in the incident."

And with that Stein turned to the undead man, put his hand to the screw on his head and turned it three times in a counterclockwise direction and began to tell his piece as a new opponent entered the mat with the athletic boy, weapon in hand and both a confident yet slightly disturbed expression upon his face.

….

A shriek rang out as the yawning sun started to dip below the horizon and the sneering face of the moon started to appear into the sky over Death City. The sound of boots clattering against the cobblestone pathways that crisscrossed the city made a consistent tune until they abruptly stopped dead in their tracks. There were five different pair of boots now standing in the alleyway a little way off the beaten path than that of which normal townsfolk choose to take. Four pairs of those boots were obviously belonging to that of men. Each one a different type and make. The slenderest one had two navy stripes running down the side and belonged to a very typical looking boy with short brown hair, slightly built frame and of an age of about fifteen. The second more bulkier boots had sharp brown buckles and belonged to the oldest of the four boys who had decided it would look good to grow out his beard even though it really did not go with his pointed jaw line and grew in in patches across his chin. The third pair had a militaristic style to them and similarly the buzz cut hair and muscular stature of the wearer matched the persona. And lastly the fourth pair of the larger boots had spikes jutting out of the toe and heel in an obvious attempt to be intimidating. The bearer of those boots was a large boy with slicked back hair and an obnoxious condescending grin upon his face. The other pair of boots whose heels were backed up against the wall of the alley were a simple black with laces that ran up the shin of the wearer. These boots belonged to a girl of about seventeen. She had long black hair which was braided back behind her, the braid falling midway down her back. The girl had a slender face and soft features, her blazing red eyes practically glowed in the light of the setting sun as she stared down the four looming boys before her. Her fists clenched tight ready to go on the offensive yet the rapidness of her breathing and slight shaking of her muscles gave emphasis to her fatigue.

"Oh, look at what we have here. Seems like the little girl wishes to fight." Said spiked boots. "Do you think that you can really take us on. I mean you can't even get yourself a meister." The rest of the boys laughed as the leader continued. "Which I mean who could blame them, I mean how useless can a weapon be? One that has no blade, no energy, no offensive capabilities. It's no wonder why every soul has rejected you. It's because no one truly wants to use you."

The girl's fists clench tighter and she dropped herself into a lower stance to get ready for the attack. But the weakness in her arms took over and her hands drop slightly. The lead boy quickly then grabbed hold of her arm, twists it behind her back and grinded her face into the wall. The girl grunted in pain as she was forcefully held against the bricks. She struggled to break free of the large boy's grasp but her body refused to generate enough force to break his hold.

"Well even if you are not useful as a weapon, I am sure there is _something_ that we could find in which you would be useful for." He said as his hand moved around to her midsection.

Summoning all her strength, she threw her head back, catching the grinning boy in the face. A slight crack could be heard as the force on her arm weakened. She spun around and performed a heavy overhead haymaker to her assailant but before the blow could connect the military boy and the bearded face grabbed her and held her back.

"You broke my nose, you crazy bitch!" the slicked backed boy wailed.

" Yeah well, get your way back over here so I can rearrange your jaw too." The girl shot back as she tugged to free her arms from the other two that were barring her way.

The leader looked back up and very noticeably the nose was bent in a weird direction and blood was gushing down his face. The boy came striding back over to her and blood spat from his mouth as spoke. "We were just giving you a little bit of a hazing but now you've gone and pissed me off so I think there is retribution to be paid." And with that the boy took a hold of her hair and yanked her neck, raised his fist high in the air and...

"Hey pretty boy! What do you think you're doing over there!" rang a loud voice from the other end of the alleyway.

The fist of the boy dropped down from its position but the hold on the back of the girl's hair did not loosen and he turned slightly in the direction that the owner of the voice was standing. He squinted his eyes to see the newcomer but the sun's weakening rays were set behind him so only a silhouette could be seen.

"This is none of your business so just go away. You don't want to get involved in the matters of the DWMA!" The leader shouted at the lone figure.

"Oh, so you're part of the DWMA? That big fancy academy at the top of the city, right? Great so then you will have no problem helping me find my way through town then." The mysterious figure said as he began to proceed further into the alley.

"Hey dumbass. Don't you understand that we are busy here and that you should go back to whatever stinking hole you crawled out from!" The spiked booted boy finally released the girl's hair and her head fell forward in relief to finally be free again. He took a few steps away and looked at the now clearly visible figure. It was a boy of about eighteen, he had an athletic build to him, slightly long black hair with bangs that hung down to about eye level. The boy honestly did not look like much but his posture showed his confidence and his eyes were unwavering and looked upon the group in contempt.

"Well I would but you see there is a small problem here that I believe can easily be rectified." Said the boy as he pushed his bangs back. "You four seemingly fine and impotent gentlemen simply put that girl down and drag your asses off in that other direction."

"What did you just say to us!" The two men dropped the girl, who crumbled to the ground and walked over to stand next to their leader with the fourth one falling in line behind them. We're going to make you choke on those words you stupid asshole!" And with that a light shone, and the military man disappeared and in his place the bearded man was now carrying a double bladed battle axe. "AAAAAAAHHHRRRGGGG!"

The man charged like a raging bull at the boy standing at the other end of the alleyway. His battle axe held aloft over his shoulder ready to cleave his opponent in two. He swung a powerful midsection swing and the blade hissed as it cut through the air but that was all it hit, for the other boy has nimbly leaped up into the air rebounded off the blade of the axe and spun his leg out catching the axe user in the side of his jaw. The man tumbled away and slammed into the wall of the alley as the leader looked on in shock. He soon gained his composure and commanded his partner to transform as well and within a second he was holing a brilliant double edged longsword. He lunged forward with a powerful thrust making sure that the same leaping move could not be used again. Then his arm was suddenly jerked as it was stopped partway through its attack. The other boy had rushed forward and caught the blade between his knee and elbow and was holding it in place. The unarmed boy then forcefully trust his fist down onto the grips of the hilt of the sword causing it to break out of the leader's hands and fall to the alleyway floor. The athletic boy then slammed the side of his foot into the other boy's knee and proceeded to spin around and catch his kneeling opponent in the side of the head with his heel. The slicked haired boy went sliding into some cans off to the side and the boy rushed over to the girl who laid curled up on the ground.

"Are you all right? Can you stand?" the boy tried to help the girl to her feet but she simply fell back to the ground. "Come on we have to hurry, they won't stay down for long and I do not think I am going to catch them off guard again." Again, the boy lifted the girl but she shakily stood not being able to move. "Oh screw it!" and with that the boy picked the girl up with both arms. One under her legs and the other around her back and rushed off in the other direction.

The wind rushed through the boy's black hair as he quickly dashed through the side streets of Death City. The girl in his arms groaned as he turned tight corners. Just then he started to hear the clattering of boots behind him and he knew that he was being pursued by the attackers from before. One set of footsteps came closer and closer and the boy looked to his side to see that one of the boys had caught up to him. And as he rounded a corner a fence at the end of the alley threatened to box him in.

"Ha I've got you now and there is nowhere to run!" Cackled the long sword boy as he made a wild swing that missed by a couple of inches.

"You would like to think that, wouldn't you?" and with a flying leap, the boy bounded off the top of a crate, kicked off the wall, and cleared the fence that was at the end of the alley without losing an ounce of speed.

"Hey girl, you're part of the DWMA correct?" the girl weakly nodded. "Are you a weapon or meister?" another weak response saying that she was a weapon. "Then would you be able to transform for me? At this rate they are going to catch up with us and I am not going to have enough energy to fend them off but with you in weapon form I should be able to out run them with the decreased weight."

"I'm sorry. I can't transform. Please just put me down. I can take care of myself." And with that she tried to push herself out from the boy's arms but he did not let go.

"Well then I guess I have no choice." Said the boy as he came screeching to a halt in the middle of an open street. "You rest over here and make sure to get out of here as soon as you are able to." He started to walk in the other direction before turning around and asking. "Oh, by the way what's your name?"

"Clarissa." She said while she stared at the lone boy walking into a hopeless fight.

"Well my name is Leon. And I guess it is time to pay my dues." He then walked a couple more yards away from her, ready to take on the attackers.

The four other boys came clattering to a halt before him about fifteen seconds later. Their breathing rates slightly elevated but being students of the DWMA they had enough stamina training that this was not going to affect them in the slightest and soon had themselves spread slightly apart; each of the pairs standing together waiting for the brawl that was about to begin.

"Given up and tired already? Sneered the bearded assailant.

"Nah, just figured if it's taken you guys this long to catch up with me then I should have no problem beating your slow weak asses into the ground." Leon said with a mocking grin of his own.

"Why you! Transform!" Again, the first one to attack was the axe user. This time he rushed forward on his right foot, spun the axe once above his head before bringing it down into a diagonal swipe. The defender ducked and side stepped the heavy blow and kicked his leg out into the side of the man's gut, retracted his kick into a chamber and then extended it a second time into the side of the man's head. The axe user went reeling to the other side of the street dazed from the blow to his temple. The scratching of metal against stone rushed up close as the sword user raced to reach his target. The slash that he used was one that first went horizontal left to right and then came back up to shoulder height. A two-part combination that would have connected had Leon not dove to the left under the blade as it slashed and then slammed his elbow into the shoulder of the attacker and then extended his forearm into a hammerfist follow-up. The man was sent flying to the ground a few yards away. Just then a chill suddenly came from behind and Leon leaped to the right but was too late. The ice hit him in his foot and it was frozen to the ground. He turned his head to see that the axe that was in the other man's hands had a slightly frosty look to it and ice shards were falling in the air around it.

"This is one of my special abilities! Frozen detainment!" Yelled the bearded man as he got to his feet again.

"And this is mine!" the other man was on his feet and with a blinding flash came shooting forward before leaping from the ground at a ninety-degree angle and shooting up into the sky like a rocket. "Heavenly sword!" The man came flying back down at an incredible speed and a brilliant light shown across the section of the street. "And he was no…"

The man stopped partway through for he now realized that his sword had not knocked out his opponent but instead was being held in place again, by the two hands of the person who kneeled before him.

"You might not want to celebrate just yet." Leon groaned as he then took the sword and slammed it into the ice that surrounded his foot smashing it to pieces. He dove to the side and out of the attack range of his two adversaries. "Well this is not going to go well." He mumbled to himself as he realized that one of his arms was now dislocated and that his leg was completely numb from the chill of the ice. He then heard the two dash forward weapons at the ready. He raised his arm to defend himself and sidestepped the first sword swing. Ducked under the heavy axe blow but then was met by a knee on the side of his numbed leg. The blow sent him stumbling backward where the hilt of the axe was bashed into the center of his back between his shoulder blades causing him to be forced to the ground. The two meisters then began repeatedly kicking, slashing, and bludgeoning him as he lay on the ground trying to protect what he could from their onslaught of attacks.

"No stop please! There is no reason for all of this! Just stop!" Rang out the voice of a person from behind that everyone had forgot was even there. Clarissa then ran over threw a right cross to the face of the axe user and then pulled the sword user away from the boy on the ground. "I'm so sorry but this is not going to be pleasant!" a navy light was suddenly emitted from her as her form began to change shape. Her hair twisted to one side as her arms grew smaller and he legs curled up to her chest. The look of concentration upon her face and the worry that resonated within her eyes made it clear that this was something she was not sure she was willing to do. But then her body split in two and two navy lights flew up into the sky before coming back down and embedding themselves onto Leon's wrists. The form of the lights changed shape once again, this time to that of two very simplistic gauntlets. A spark of electricity shot off from each end of the gauntlets and Leon's eyes jolted awake, his mouth opened and he emitted a terrible blood curdling scream that resounded throughout the city.

….

" And then what happened? Asked professor Sid as Stein finished speaking and took a gaze at the battle that was still going on before them.

"Not sure that is all that I could get out of the four assailants from that incident and the two over there are being very quiet about the whole ordeal. Whatever happened must be something that they are not wanting to share with the rest of the meisters here at this academy."

So, what are we going to do with them. It is obvious that they show potential. I mean so far, they have beaten most of the weapon meister combinations from the NOT class and even a few of the newly appointed one star meisters.

"Well first we're going to have to enroll him as a full-time student here and then set up the proper paperwork for them to officially become partners and then after that we should give them a few days to get used to being here at the academy before we prepare them for their first assignment that they will need to undertake."

"Understood I will make the necessary preparations for this pair, so make sure to have them come see me at my office within the next few hours." And with that the undead man left the room and strode back out into the hallway to reach the registration office.

Stein turned back to the battle that was taking place on the mat before him." The Infinity Gauntlets, Clarissa, and the boy who has no home. An interesting combination." He thought to himself. Then a smile creeped across his face as he looked closer at their souls. "I wonder how I should dissect them?

Part 1: Initiation End


	2. The New Student at the DWMA

Part 2: The New Student at the DWMA

My eyes darted back and forth as she rushed from one end of the apartment to the other. This was my first day going to the DWMA and we were supposed to be there in about two hours from now but my partner was rushing around like a crazy person, grabbing things, and throwing them into a bag. Mumbling to herself as she tried to check things off in her mind.

….

It had all happened just a day ago after the initial unpleasantness that had befallen me on my arrival to Death City. I had found myself first being taken to a large arena where the students were meant to duel with one another. The professor in charge of me at the time insisted that he needed to collect data on me and my partner before he could make a judgement about us (whatever that meant). So, I followed along and found myself being pitted against multiple opponents in a row. Each one growing in strength from the last. After about my fifth battle the professor called Stein told me to stop and that I was to report to the office of another professor named Sid. When I asked how I was going to recognize him the instructor simply smiled and said that I would know when I got there. My first impression of the instructor was that he was very intelligent and had a tremendous amount of power within him. But I could also feel something else in his soul and in the look behind his eyes. There was something more sinister about this man than the surface would let on but he simply smiled a knowing smile as he lead me out of the room and pointed me in the direction to which I would find the office I was to report to.

"Who exactly was that?" I asked Clarissa who had now changed back to her normal human form and was walking along next to me.

"That was Professor Franken Stein. He is an instructor here at the academy and one of the best meisters that has ever trained here. He is a pretty decent guy from what I have seen of him but I have heard from some of the other students in the one star class that he has a kind of sadistic side that will show from time to time." She replied as she strode along beside me.

"Oh, so that is what I must have been feeling back there while he was talking to me." I commented as the realization dawned on me.

"Felt? What do you mean? Are you able to sense the soul wavelengths of others?" She asked a kind of shock in her voice.

"Well I am not sure if it was his soul wavelength but I definitely felt an aura about him that I really was not wanting to find out what it was. I mean like right now I do not sense anything really and there are plenty of people here with strong souls so I should be able to get a read on them too? Right?"

"Right." She stated blandly as she looked at me seemingly dissatisfied with my explanation.

It took us a good part of ten minutes to reach the side of the school that we were supposed to be going to. The directions the screwy professor had given us were completely confusing and even with a person who has been here for a while we were still uncertain about which direction we were supposed to take. But eventually we reached a large door with a sign to the side that read Professor Sid Barrett and under it there were three stars. We lightly rapped on the door and a gruff yet welcoming voice told us to come on in. I pushed open the door and stopped dead in my tracks for before me was not a normal man that I was expecting to see as a teacher here at the school. I mean the Stein professor with the stitch marking and screw through his head had thrown me off a little but this was on a completely different level. The man before me could barely even be qualified as a human anymore and to be precise I knew he wasn't. the figure sitting behind the desk with his legs propped up and leaning back in his chair was a one hundred percent certified zombie. With decaying flesh, large eyes sockets and black cornrows, wearing what looked to be an old basketball jersey and jeans. But the biggest shock was the large hole in the bandana that he wore around his head. My partner did not even hesitate at the man's appearance and walked straight into the room and up to the desk greeting him like nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Hello Professor Sid. We were told to come see you about something?" Clarissa said as she bowed respectfully to him in front of his desk and as she did she turned her head and shot me back a glare that said _come on and get over here too, you're being extremely rude._

I quickly regained my composure, walked into the room, and lowered by body into a deep bow right beside my partner. "Yes, what did you wish to speak with us about professor?" The zombie then began to explain all the details of the enrollment process of the DWMA and how I was going to be attending classes here from now on along with Clarissa. He then had me sign about seven different documents each of which seemed to have an endless amount of text and then after that was all finished he finally handed us the keys to an apartment somewhere in the city.

"Wait we're going to be living together!?" Clarissa and I both asked with shocked expressions.

"Well of course, it is customary for the meister and weapon to live in close proximity to one another in order for their wavelengths to adapt which will increase combat effectiveness." Sid replied in a very natural manner.

"Well I guess I can understand the logic behind that." Clarissa said in a matter of fact way.

"Yeah, understood." I replied with as much gusto as I could muster in order to hind the nervousness I was feeling about having to live with a girl for the first time in my life.

"Well I suppose you both will want to go there check the place out and move your stuff in. If there are any problems with it just report to the school's housing office and they will take care of all of that for you. You're dismissed.' And with that the undead man propped his feet back up on his desk and opened back up the magazine that he was reading to signal the end of the conversation.

We left the office and began walking down the hall towards the stairs that would lead us down to the first floor and then to the entrance to the school. We walked in silence for a while before finally Clarissa began to speak.

"Actually, do you have anything that you need to get moved?

I thought for a moment and then replied with a simple, "Nope. The only things I have are all right here in this backpack. Which honestly are only a few changes of clothes."

"Ok, Well, then you can help me move my stuff then. It will be in the dorms for the no star students which are not far from the school." She said as she then picked up the pace and strode ahead of me,

"Wait how much stuff are we talking about here!?" I called after her.

I dropped the five pieces of luggage I had been carrying onto the floor as we finally arrived at the new apartment after having to walk about nine or so blocks from the no star dorms. I rubbed my weary shoulders as I took in my surroundings. The interior of the apartment was nice enough. A simple red cloth three seat sofa, an old rustic looking leather armchair, a beaten down yet clearly viable coffee table. The windows had no curtains and the blinds were torn in a few paces here and there. I walked into the kitchen and found it to be a decent size and was fully equipped with refrigerator, microwave, stove and oven. It seemed there were two bedrooms at the end of the hall with a bathroom set up a little way before.

"Huh, not a bad place." I said as the other member of this little abode finally arrived up the stairs carrying the two small bags she had tasked herself with.

"Oh wow this is ours!? She exclaimed her face full of bewilderment as she rushed around checking each thing out. "Wow this is so amazing! What a wonderful place!" then she dashed down the hall to the bedrooms. "I want this one!" She yelled out of the one that was obviously bigger. "Could you get something for dinner started while I unpack? There should be some ingredients in one of the larger bags out there!" And with that she shut the door to the room and I could hear her squealing with delight at every feature of her new room as she unzipped all her luggage and began placing things away.

I walked into the kitchen, turned on the stove, unpacked some of the cooking wares and ingredients and began making one of the many dishes that I knew how to make. A simple chicken curry with peppers onions and noodles. Soon the whole place smelled of the delicious aroma of the curry and within about half an hour I had two steaming hot plates laid out on the coffee table for us to eat. I then walked back to her room and lightly knocked on her door.

"Dinner is ready." I said but after a brief pause I still had not received an answer. "Dinner is ready!" I said this time much louder and knocked on the door but still did not receive an answer. "Alright I am coming in." and slowly opened the door. I looked around and was amazed at how much she had done in such a short amount of time. The closet was stocked with dresses, blouses, and skirts. The walls already had different posters of bands and movies I have never heard of and the bed was already fitted with navy blue sheets and a large comforter. And there laying on it was the girl I had just met about half a day ago completely sound asleep. "Your food will be in the fridge if you wake up later." I said quietly as I pulled the comforter over her and turned out the lamp that was next to the bed. I then walked silently out of the room, ate my dinner, and decided to get some rest myself. Only to find myself waking up the next morning to the crazy lunatic that was now dashing around our place.

….

"Come on! Aren't you going to get ready!? Clarissa yelled as she ran back into her room to grab something.

"I am ready. I got all the stuff I need in my pack and am showered, dressed, and ready to go. But you do realize that the first bell does not ring for another two hours, right?" I replied.

"Well we need to be there early so that we can find our new classes and then get prepared for the lectures and notes we will be having to take, and maybe tests or pop quizzes that might come up and…

I grab her by the shoulders to stop her from rambling. If she had kept going she probably would have passed out from lack of oxygen. "Calm down it will all be fine. What has gotten you so worked up anyway? I mean you have been attending this school for a while, right? I say curiously

"Nothing. I'm not worked up I just want to make sure that we are not the only pair who is behind in the classes is all." She said very dominantly.

"Ok? Well how about some breakfast and then we can head out to do all that stuff you were wanting us to be prepared for?" I suggested to which she seemed pleased with the idea and we had a quick breakfast of eggs and bacon before we left the apartment and made our way to the school.

As expected when we arrived (an hour and forty-five minutes early) no one was there and we were able to walk along the hallways with ease. We first decided that it would be best to find the lockers we were assigned and to stow away any of the items we were not going to be needing for our first set of classes before lunch. Our lockers were located on the second-floor west wing and were the ones you would find standard at any sort of school. They were of course right next to one another and were big enough to hold most of the text books that we were meant to be using along with a coat and maybe a few other personal effects that might need to be put away as well. After that we then started walking around the school and finding the locations of each of our different classes. The classes seemed to be split into different groups both by star level and by advancement. Since we were at the lowest advancement of the one star class most of our classes were grouped on the third floor in the north and west sections except for dueling practice which was always held in the same room on the fourth floor. Most of the classes seemed familiar such as mathematics, sciences, and some foreign language studies but there were some that were definitely out of the ordinary such as: soul purging, purification of hexes, battle strategies, and soul resonance and stabilization. By the time we found and examined all the classes we were going to be going to from now on the hall had become crowded with students.

The first bell rang, signaling that the first class was going to start within the next five minutes so Clarissa and I started towards our first class, soul purging. We walked into the classroom as most of the other students had already found their seats. Being the newest students in the class we were forced to take the seats in the front most row all the way to the left for they were the only seats available that were next to one another. I could feel people starring and hear whispering as we took our seats and began unpacking the supplies we were going to need for this class. I was just about to mention this to Clarissa when the tardy bell rang and a person burst through the door at the last second.

"Phew! Made it on time today! Sorry I'm late class got a bit lost on my way here." Said the hyperventilating woman who was apparently our professor for this course. She was an attractive woman in her early thirties with shoulder length blonde hair curled slightly at the end, a slender yet robust figure, and brilliant hazel eyes that showed nothing but compassion. She wore a black short sleeved blouse that slightly accentuated her bust, and a long flowing skirt that was yellow in the front and black in the back though most noticeably was the black and yellow eyepatch she wore over her left eye which made me beg the question on what had happened that had caused her to need such an accessory. "Alright class would everyone please open their textbooks to page eighty-six so that we may begin."

"Who is that?" I asked my partner as I turned to the page the professor had indicated.

"That would be the death scythe Marie Mjolnir. She became a teacher here at the DWMA only recently but has really hit it off with most of the students. She can be a bit airheaded at times but she is wonderful professor. Though just don't ask her for directions and never get on her bad side." She replied as she sharpened her pencil.

As the class ran on I realized how far behind I was to the others in class. I mean I knew I was going to not know some of what was being taught since this was the first class that I had ever taken at the DWMA but I had thought that I would at least be able to grasp the basics but every word from the professor's mouth just sounded like a garble of gibberish to me and the explanations in the textbook brought no clarity to the subject matter at all. In fact, most of the book was just pictures on how to perform various purging and purification techniques but with little text to explain how to do it. My partner on the other hand was the complete opposite. She seemed to know every answer off the top of her head and was writing down the notes so fast that smoke was practically blowing off the pencil. Gracefully the period ended soon after and I was given a reprieve from my realized ignorance as we walked to the next class which was just mathematics.

"Wow. You seemed to know all of that! I thought that this was your first day attending that class." I said as we left the class room.

"It was. You on the other hand were making some weird faces in there while the teacher was talking. Were you not paying attention?" She asked questioningly.

"Not at all. I was just trying to keep up and found myself being dragged behind at the speed in which she was going. And I was not making weird faces!" I retorted.

"Well then I guess I will have no choice but to help you out and get you ready to tackle the harder lessons that are coming up. She said slightly mockingly.

"Sounds good to me. And thanks, always wanted the ace student as my private tutor." I said jokingly.

"Yeah well you know. Can't have my partner being the last person in the test rankings and such." Replied Clarissa quickly as a slight red color grew on her cheeks.

Mathematics went along quite well. I was actually a very adept student at all of my subjects at my old school and actually was farther ahead in the material than the student here at the DWMA. Finally, the one star meister lunch bell rang and we all file out of the classroom just as the mathematics professor yelled out the homework assignment after us. Clarissa and I walked down to the cafeteria entered the line and waited to pick up our meals. The meals were standard school meals you would find at any academy of this type. Some fruit, some vegetables, a variety of different sandwiches, a random entrée for the day, in his case if was fried chicken, a salad bar, a dessert station and to drink there was milk, juice, or water. I chose a simple meal of some peaches, a bowl of carrot sticks, a grilled chicken sandwich and some orange juice. Clarissa decided to get an apple, celery, a hamburger, and three pudding cups. We both then sat down at one of the empty tables and began to eat our meals.

"So. what do you think of the DWMA so far Leon?" Clarissa asked as she began to peel the skin off her apple.

"Not too bad. The teachers seem nice though are bit weird and while I feel behind in some of the more specialized studies here I feel quite confident in the other…" I stopped short for I had begun to notice again that people were staring and whispering. "Ok. Seriously why are people so interested and confused by us?"

Clarissa let out a long sigh and then said, "They're not interested or confused by us their wondering why I am here."

"What do you mean? This is where all one star meister and weapons are supposed to be eating at this time. I asked not quite knowing what she was getting at.

"Well they probably do not believe that I am a one star meister." She responded quickly.

"Why would they not believe that you are a one star meister? You are a weapon and I am a meister so we qualify to be one star."

"Well I was never supposed to be able to get a meister! Understand!" She stated her voice breaking as it became slightly louder.

"What do you mean you were never supposed to be able to get a meister?" I asked with concern.

She took in a deep breath to settle herself and then began. "When I first came here to the DWMA we were all put into the NOT class. That is the section you are assigned when you do not have a meister or do not have a weapon. In that class, you practice skills such as transforming or combat techniques depending on if you are a meister or weapon. I was a natural at my transformation. I perfected it within the first few attempts and could change back and forth at will. The only problem was that no one really wanted me to be their weapon because as you know I am not what you would call a typical weapon. But even so I eventually befriended a meister and she decided that she was willing to give me a shot. So on the day in which all the pairs show up and the weapons transform and the meisters wield them for the first time we went in together. But when I transformed and attached myself to her wrists, she collapsed without making a sound. She was rushed to the hospital wing and it was said that her soul was deformed when she tried to match wavelengths with me and was hospitalized for two weeks. The second evaluation rolled around and again someone was willing to try and be my meister. Even though the rumor of what I had done spread throughout the entire school and earned me the title of "soul reject". But he had a similar situation happen to him only this time his soul did not recover as quickly. He took over two months of recovery to return to his natural soul state. For the third promotional period the teachers took matters into their own hands and tried to pair me up with one of the higher-level students figuring that maybe the soul just needed to be stronger for it to be able to match me. And for the third time the student fell unconscious and sadly…." she paused as she took another deep breath, "his soul never fully recovered. After that I just stopped trying. I have been passed over for seven different promotions. And that is why I can even follow the advanced work in the classes we are taking now because even though I was just in the NOT class I would borrow the one star meister books and would work on that material even though it was not where I was supposed to be. And now that I am finally here everyone just believes it is because of some fluke or trick because there is no way that the soul reject should be sitting among them!" Her voice started to quiver as she finished her explanation and her hands were clenched tightly.

"Don't worry I am not ever going to reject you." I said reassuringly and placed one of my hands over hers.

She gazed up at me with her dazzling red eyes for a few seconds before quickly turning her head, pulling back her hand and getting up from her chair. "I'll be right back, I need another pudding cup." And with that she left to go back to the dessert cart to select another treat.

I sat there and thought over what she had said about what had happened to her and began to wonder why it was that I was able to match wavelengths with her when no one else had been able to. I was thinking about asking her what her opinion on it was but then thought better of it and decided that it was not something worth bringing up again at this time.

I looked back over at her and saw that she was still deciding what flavor she wanted to get this time and it occurred to me that for such a dignified girl she sure did have a sweet-tooth. I mean a whole cabinet at our apartment was dedicated to different types of snack cakes, puddings, cookies, and bars. And just as I was about to yell over for her to grab me a vanilla, a hand gripped my shoulder and pulled me around out of my seat.

The gruff introduction was performed by a man probably in his late teens. He was well built, had hard looking features, and a large scar running down the side of his neck. When he spoke, it sounded like sandpaper scratching against a chalk board. "So, I heard you're the one that beat down John and Smitty." His hand gripped the collar of my shirt harder as he stared me straight in the face.

"John and Smitty?" I mumbled to myself and then realized those must have been the names of two of the guys me and Clarissa had fought the other day. "Look, I don't want any trouble I was just helping out someone who looked like they were in trouble." I said apologetically.

"That freak over there should not be receiving any help and…"

"Who're you calling a freak!" Said an icy voice from behind the man and he stiffened up in shock. Clarissa walked up closer to the much larger man, hell fire burning in her eyes. "As I recall those assholes were the ones who decided to be too weak to take on a little girl by themselves and had to gather a group of four in order to just catch her." Clarissa said the pudding cup in her hand being crushed by her increasing grip.

The man let go of me and turned to face the demon that was standing just a few inches away now. They both were within striking distance and both did not look likely to settle for reason. With a brawl imminent, I did the only thing I could think of and lunged forward, grabbed the pudding cup, threw it in the bulky man's face while simultaneously shoving my partner toward the cafeteria doors.

"Just come on and run!" I said as she protested and tried to push her way back into the cafeteria.

I peered behind me as we ran down the empty hallways to see the man charging along as two other goons followed behind him. _Talk about Deja Vu_ I thought to myself as I tried to pick up the pace. We rounded a corner and came to a long stretch of hall. Once we were about two-thirds down the hall I threw open the nearest door and pulled us both in side.

"Hey! Where did they go?" One of the thugs asked.

"They must have gone in through one of these doors!" Said another and they began opening doors and checking the rooms.

Good news was that for now we were hidden and had time to catch our breath. Bad news was there were only so many doors in this hallway and it would not take more than three minutes to check the others before they reached this one. Worse news was that I had randomly chosen a door that only lead to a very small supply closet so Clarissa and I were pressed together with hardly any room for movement. It was then that I became very aware of her breathing and realized that my leg was pulling up the hem of her skirt and my hand was stuck against her lower back.

"Oh my god! Just what do you think you…!" I quickly covered her mouth with my free hand to force her to be quiet. And while she stopped talking I could feel the smoldering heat of her eyes as they tried to burn a hole through my skull. I ignored that landmine for now and concentrated on listening through the door to hear the progress of our pursuers on the other side. By the sound of doors closing it seemed like they were just about here. I held my breath as I silently counted down when they would get to this door. _5…4…3…2…_

"Hey! You three over there what do you think you are doing in the halls during the lunch period!?" said a girl's voice that was loud and commanding. "All one star meisters should be eating in the cafeteria not screwing around in all the empty classrooms!"

"Oh, don't be so uptight. They probably just lost something or are having trouble finding the bathroom." The new voice was deeper and nonchalant with just a hint of cynical mockery to his statement.

I then heard the other three walk back down the hallway in the other direction. Clarissa and I both let out a silent sigh of relief until, "Now I want to know what the two of you think you are doing in there!" said the girl and we both froze with surprise at somehow being found by the newcomer so suddenly. The door was then yanked open with Clarissa and I tumbling out into a heap on the floor at the feet of the two strangers.

After I shook the stars out of my eyes from the blow to the head I had received by Clarissa when she tried to catch herself from falling but only managed to slam my head into the ground I looked up to the faces of our saviors or possibly our new foes. One was a young girl, probably about in her early to mid-teens. She had a small yet athletic frame, youthful features, and wore he blonde hair in twin pig tails. While all this made her seem quite young it was her emerald eyes that told a different story. Those were eyes that had seen battle and had taken on many adversaries. Eyes that both demanded and commanded respect. She had on a plaid skirt, combat boots, and a long flowing coat. The other was a boy around about the same age as the girl and wore long red pants, a bright yellow biker's jacket. He had a similar build as myself, spiky white hair held up by a headband, and red eyes that showed very little interest in what was happening. Though his sharp toothed smile told me that he was trying very hard not to start making some choice comments about this situation.

"We were not doing anything! Noting! Absolutely nothing! And were just about to head back to the cafeteria to finish our lunch!" Clarissa said quickly as she jumped up and pulled me along behind her.

"Jeez, slow down already they are not following us!" I exclaimed after we had made our way quickly down multiple hallways.

"No. Just trust me those are two one star meisters that you do not want to get on the wrong side of. We seriously just need to go finish our lunch and then get on with the rest of our classes for the day." Clarissa stated with no other words of explanation as we entered back into the cafeteria.

We finished our lunch and then went to the rest of our classes for the day. The science class was typical with a lecture on photosynthesis and then a hands-on lab that demonstrated the process. The purification of hexes class seemed to be very simple and I could catch on to the material quickly and had no trouble following along. It did help that the teacher seemed to be older than time itself which made him take everything painfully slow. With those classes done, the final bell of the day rang out and students rushed to leave and get on with their daily activities. When we finally arrived back at our apartment there was a notice slipped under the door and it read. _Please go and see Professor Stein tomorrow at 7:00._

"What do you think he wants with us?" Asked Clarissa as she undid her braid and walked back to her room.

"Who knows. Maybe he wants to collect some more "data" on us or something." I replied after her and sat myself down on the couch, leaning back in relief that the day was finally over. "Anyway, it's your turn to cook so feel free to make whatever you want, I'll eat anything."

"Actually, I have a lot of work to do so could you start on it?" She asked.

"What work could you possibly have to do? We only got one assignment and I saw you finish that in science class as we waited for the professor to finally get the projector to work. And since I was the one to make the meal las night I believe that law dictates that you make it tonight." I retorted.

"Well, I just have to get a few things done is all and…"

"Nope. Not buying it. You're making dinner tonight." I said interrupting whatever excuse she was trying to come up with.

"But…" she finally walked out of her room, having changed into a pair of short black athletic shorts and gray t-shirt, with her head cast downward in embarrassment. "I don't really know how to cook."

I ran my fingers through my hair as I let out a long sigh before pushing myself up off the couch and walking out into the kitchen. "Well then you are going to still be helping me make it this time." I called out to draft her as my sous-chef.

The dinner was nothing extravagant. I decided to just teach her some of the basics of cooking rice, and grilling up some fish and how to season each one properly so that there was a decent amount of flavor to the meal. Within half an hour we had ourselves a very paltry meal but it tasted good nonetheless.

"Wow this is actually pretty good. Where did you learn to cook like this?" She asked as she took a few bites of the sizzling salmon.

"Well I had to learn because my mother was working all the time and my little sister was such a fussy eater and…" I trailed off. "My mom taught me a lot when I was younger." I concluded and began to eat more quickly and then got up to leave. "I think I will call it early today." I said as I left the room with Clarissa still sitting there with a questioning look in her eyes.

….

Blood splattered across the carpet. It's sickening smell filled the air as I looked around the scene. A lone figure stood shakily before me. They turned their head and I could see the gash that traveled across their face. But the figure was still smiling as it reached a hand out towards me. Suddenly a blade appeared from behind the shadows of the darkness. It moved closer. And closer. I yelled at the figure to move. But no words would come. The blade impaled the figure. Once. Twice. A third time. Each time the figure convulsed in pain. Finally, on the fourth time, the victim finally succumbed to their injuries and fell to the floor. The look of shock and terror frozen upon their face. Then the blade turned towards me, shot forward, and I bolted upright.

I cast my gaze around the new environment and realized I was sitting in my room. The figure and smell of the blood had completely disappeared. The fluttering of something caused me to look to the left and was startled to see another figure standing there. But upon closer inspection I realized it was just the form of Clarissa in her night gown. A look of worry could be seen upon her face even in the dim light that was offered by the moon. Then I noticed that she was not looking at my face now but instead her gaze had fallen upon my bare chest and back. I knew what she was staring at. She was staring at the scars that riddled my body in that area. With the most prominent one being the large circular one that ran through the right part of my chest and then had its twin on my back. She opened her mouth to speak but I raised my hand and said. "Don't worry I'm fine. It was just a bad dream. Please go back to bed. Sorry for having disturbed you." She stood there for a moment more contemplating whether to follow my orders and then left, closing my door behind her. I then laid back down and stared at the ceiling, trying to fall back asleep, as the moon slowly receded from the sky and the first cracks of light from dawn began to show over the horizon.

Part 2: The New Student at the DWMA End


	3. The No Contact Mission

Part 3: The No Contact Mission

1:37am

That is the time that the clock read as I turned over on my side to look. I had been laying there for two hours now unable to find a way to fall asleep. The events of today replaying in my head were preventing my mind from being able to settle. First, I had been so worried about my new classes and how I did not want to screw up when I had finally become a one star meister. Second had been the revealing to him what had happened to me in the past. I am not a person who normally tells anybody about such events and I certainly do not almost breakdown in front of them. But he did have a right to know who he signed on to partner with and the dangers that came with it. I still had no clue as to why he was able to handle my power when no one else could but I should just be thankful that he was not hurt like the others. Though I had to be cautious. It may have worked out those few times but there were no guaranties that his soul would not be affected later. Third, the whole hiding in the storage closet fiasco. I mean seriously, what was his thought process behind that? Hide in the closet. Wait for the men to check the other rooms. Get found. Have to fight three large men while being stuck in a tiny enclosed space. Not even to mention the placement of his hand and leg at the time. The last time I had been touched like that I had been at a school dance and the boy I had been dancing with had gone home early due to an injured foot and dislocated jaw. Though to top it all off we were then found by Soul Eater and Maka Alburn, two of the best one star meisters at the DWMA. Fourth, we were now being summoned to the office of Professor Stein tomorrow morning. I have never heard of someone going to his office to receive good news and I expected us to be no different. And lastly, I had not meant to upset Leon with my question but what had caused him to react like that? He had suddenly just gone quiet and turned slightly pale, then fled from the room. I looked over at the clock again.

1:51am

"Oh God, will this day just ever end?" I lamented to myself as I turned over and buried my head into my pillow. I then lifted my head and rested my chin on my pillow as I stared at my headboard. "I suppose I'll just go get myself something to snack on." And then pulled the blankets back, pulled myself out of bed, slipped my feet into my slippers, and walked out into hallway.

The apartment was quiet and dark. The only light being that of the moon that shown through the holes in the blinds. It wasn't cold, yet there was a chill to the air which seemed odd considering that the past few days had been so unforgivably hot. I silently walked along the small path that lead to the kitchen. I entered the room, the smell of seasoned fish still slightly hung in the air as I made my way over to the small cupboard that held all my snacks. I choose a small chocolate snackcake in the shape of a bat. Or at least it would have been if it had not been smashed by a bag of mint chocolate chip cookies. I had just taken a bite and was about to go for another when suddenly out of nowhere a scream filled the apartment.

"NO! RUN! GET OUT OF THERE!"

I dropped the rest of the small cake to the floor and ran to the end of the hall. The scream had of course come from the room of my meister. I barged in not even bothering to knock and was hit by a sudden burst of cold that made me freeze for just a moment. The cold was pouring through the open window to the left and swept its way across the space. As I made my way farther into the room I could feel it as it encompassed my body, piercing through the thin layered night gown that I was wearing, causing a shiver to run down my spine. I approached the bed, and there laid the source of the wail. He was fidgeting from side to side continuously, his face contorted into an expression of pure fear as his hands gripped the bed like a vice. I was just about to grab his arm and try to shake him awake when he suddenly snapped awake and sat up almost instantaneously. He swiveled his head around the room as if in search of something. And jumped ever so slightly when he noticed that I was standing there by his bed. He looked at me intensely for a few seconds, his eyes wide with fear and sweat was pouring down his face. In fact, he was completely drenched, from the bangs that were now stuck to his forehead to his bare chest that had become exposed when he shot up from where he had been laying. It was then that I noticed them. Large thick scars that ran along multiple parts of his chest, midsection and back. These were not just the normal scars you might see on a boy that played a little too rough as a kid but scar tissue from serious wounds that had been inflicted upon him. I could feel myself staring as my eyes moved from one to another. Each one looking worse than the last. Then finally my eyes settled on the right part of his chest where a deep circular scar was housed and then I noticed that on his back in the same spot there was a slightly smaller yet practically identical one. I opened my mouth but I could not seem to form any sort of sound as I took a step back, my mind wondering what could have happened to him. He then covered the mark with his arm looked me in the eyes and told me he was sorry for waking me and that I should go back to bed. I was going to protest but again my voice failed me. It was as if the chill of the air had frozen my vocal cords and so I simply left the room, closing the door behind me.

I went across the hall and reentered my bedroom. Though unlike his there was not even the slightest hint of a chill in the air. I went over to my bed and flung myself on top of it. What had just happened? I have never heard someone scream so loud from a nightmare nor have I seen someone so frightened after waking up. And then there were the scars. Something horrible must have happened to him for him to have suffered such terrible wounds. I knew there was something that he was hiding from me. Something from his past. But there was no way I was going to be able to pry it out of him and truth be told there were things that I was keeping from him as well. "Well this partnership is going to go along just great." I muttered to myself as I slid the covers back over me and buried my head in my pillow to try and push out my thoughts so that I would finally be able to get some sleep.

….

The next morning, I awoke to the sound of the shower running and looked over at the clock and realized that I had slept through my alarm and that we only had thirty minutes to make it to the office of Professor Stein. I quickly leap out of bed, changed into a skirt, navy blouse, and black boots. I then ran out into the hallway and knocked on the bathroom door telling Leon that he had better hurry because I was leaving in the next five minutes with or without him. Luckily, he got ready in a flash and we left the apartment with just enough time to make it over to Professor Stein's office. And by office I really meant his laboratory, and by laboratory I really meant his refurbished mental hospital. The building itself was freaky enough. With bars on the windows, and a weird stitch work pattern running all over it. The door eerily creaked open as we got closer to the building as if it itself was trying to welcome us in. Yet the interior was all but welcoming. There were desks stacked high with laboratory equipment, cabinets that were stocked with all sorts of specimen jars and various test tubes, there were even a few tables in the back that if I had to guess were used for dissections or autopsy procedures. There was a slight rattling as the professor swiveled into the room on his usual chair, seated on it backwards, his head resting on his hands.

"Oh well if it isn't our two newest one star meisters. I am glad that you two could get here on time." Said the scientist as he readjusted his glasses.

"Yes, and why did you call us in so early professor?" I said as I bowed in greeting and jabbed Leon in the arm to do the same.

"Yes of course, the reason that I called you in is that the DWMA is going to be sending you out into the field."

"What!? But we have just become a weapon and meister pair. Are you sure we should be sent out into the field on assignment already!?" I exclaimed as I stared the professor straight in the eyes.

"Yes, we are sure. With Asura's revival we are spread thin on candidates for this mission. And besides we are not sending you out on a hunting expedition. This assignment is purely reconnaissance. You both will be investigating a village that has a significant increase in madness and then report to the main squads that will one town over hunting a specific kishin egg that has appeared in that area. So, you have nothing to fear. This is a no contact mission for the two of you and you should have it done by no later than later this afternoon. You will find the full details in the car that will take you to the village along with a set of mics so that you can communicate with the rest of the squads that will be deployed in that area. Good luck." And with that he kicked off the ground and rolled his way back through the doorway and into the room at the far back of the building.

We rushed out of the malicious building and made our way to the front entrance of the school. There was a car waiting for us there and the driver who was a very tall man in a black suit and tie opened the door and allowed us inside. The interior of the car what you would expect to find in a very elegant taxi. With leather seats and a panel separating the driver from whomever was in back. I looked down and saw that the professor had indeed given us two folders full of documents about our assignment. I opened one of them and began to read as the driver put the car into gear and drove away from the school. Me and Leon sat in silence for about thirty minutes as we read the documents that had been provided for us until he put down his and asked.

"Who is this Kishin Asura and what exactly are the kishin eggs.

I looked over at him confused for a second because this was general knowledge for all the people of Death city. Then I remembered he had only arrived a few days ago and would have no idea what either of those things were since he was only a civilian.

"Asura was formally one of the leading members of The Eight Shinigami Legions which were essentially Lord Death's personal task force but he became paranoid and drunk with power he had his weapon consume not just the souls of kishin eggs but also the souls of humans. He eventually became so paranoid that he did not even trust is own partner so he ate it and took its power for his own. This was when he became the first generation Kishin. Lord Death realized what was happening and skinned Asura alive and buried him deep under Death City in order to prevent him from escaping. That is until about three weeks ago when during the celebration of the DWMA's founding the witch Medusa and her accomplices successfully revived the Kishin and then helped it escape. Now madness is spreading across the globe and the DWMA is on over time trying to keep things in check because the madness has caused all the kishin eggs to run wild and are now more vicious than ever." I finished my explanation and looked over at him to made sure that he understood all that I had said. "And a kishin egg is a person who has committed serious crimes and has consumed the souls of living humans and is on their way to becoming a true kishin themselves. We have to hunt these and consume their souls in order to maintain order in the world. And if we obtain 99 kishin souls and the soul of one witch then I will become a death scythe which are weapons that are in service to Lord Death.

"Oh, so your goal is to become a death scythe?" Leon asked.

"Of course, it is the goal of every weapon to become a weapon for Lord Death and every meisters wish to create that weapon for him." I said while my mind pictured the scene of me becoming a truly honorary weapon in service to the greatest being in the world. Then I remembered the question I had been wanting to ask all day. "So, what happened…."

"You have arrived at your destination. I wish you the best of luck." Said the driver as he stopped the car and got out to open the passenger door for us.

"Come on. We had better get a move and finish this mission before we lose daylight." My partner said and he exited the vehicle and began walking towards the tiny little town that we were supposed to be investigating.

Completely deflated by his avoidance of the question I followed him out of the car and we began to walk our way into the small little village. The main street that lead all the way to the town hall was actually quite short and only branched off in a few different directions. There was an old fountain that rested in the middle that looked like it hadn't been used in centuries and many of the street lamps seemed like they were going to topple over at any moment. The houses themselves were little more than refurbished shacks with tin roofs and siding that was practically falling completely off the house. My partner and I began walking up to the houses and knocking on the doors. But there was no answer at any of the houses that we went to. Then when we were just about to give up on finding anyone to with information for us we noticed that in the back of the village there was a house that had a light on and there was a shadow moving around in one of the rooms. We approached the house and lightly knocked on the door. Again, no one came to answer. We then knocked on it a little louder but instead the door swung open as we realized that it had been unlocked. We cautiously stepped inside and announced ourselves.

"Hello! We are students here from the DWMA in order to investigate some suspicious activity that has been happening around here recently. We were wondering if you would be willing to provide us with some information?"

"I think the light that was on was in one of the rooms farther in the back." Leon said as he started towards the back of the house."

"Wait we have not been invited in or anything yet." I hissed at him in order to try and get him to come back to the entryway.

"Do we look like vampires to you. Come on I am sure we can simply explain the situation and they will be totally cool with it." He replied while he still proceeded to make his way across the living area. With no other choice, I hesitantly followed him.

The house on the inside was actually quite nice with decent furniture, a television, radio, a couple of chairs and even an oak table in the dining room set with quite expensive looking china. We made our way through the home and farther into the back. There seemed to be three rooms in the back at the end of a short hallway. The one we had seen the shadow through the window was the one in the very back. We eased our way toward it, my heart pounding from the tension that seemed to be hanging in the air. Once we made our way to the door that is when the odor hit us. It was a slightly metallic smell that was mixed in with a vile cocktail of bile, rotting food and some sort of ammonia. I started to gag as I put my hand over my mouth and nose to try and prevent myself from inhaling any more of the nauseating fumes.

"What the hell is that!?" I exclaimed as I tried to take in a breath.

My meister's eyes went wide knowingly and he tried to open the door but the door seemed to be jammed from the other side. So, he took a few steps back and then rushed forward slamming his right leg into the door causing it to fly off its hinges and split into multiple different pieces. I looked around the edge of the door and practically fainted from the sight that I saw. It was a scene of a tiny bedroom with purple walls and a couple of shelves to hold books and toys but what used to be a simple and happy child's bedroom now looked like that of a slaughter house. The purple was stained and soaked with both fresh and dry blood. The shelves torn down and slashed into a bunch of different pieces and then hanging in the middle of the room were three bodies. Tied up with bed sheets and each one with a pool of crimson blood dripping to the floor. Two of the wrapped sheets were larger and had to be adults. They were swinging loosely with their arms dangling above their heads or a least they would have been if there were still have been heads attached to the necks of those bodies. The third wrap was much smaller and thinner than the other two. It was hanging in a similar fashion except the body was still twitching as the muscles used up the last of the energy available and rigor mortis set in. Though there was one more figure in that room and it was almost as bad as the rest of the seen itself. It was a hideous creature with a human like shape yet where its arms and legs should be there were just long blades and instead of just having the two arms there were four of them. Parts of its flesh were peeling away slowly and falling to the floor as it moved, and its eyes were dead and completely devoid of any scrap of humanity. The kishin shook its head as it recovered from the blow it had received from one of the shards of door that had flown into the room.

"Clarissa! We have to go! WE HAVE TO GO NOW!" Leon yelled as he quickly pulled me by the hand and raced us out of there. "Alright Clarissa transform!"

"R-r-right." I stammered as I tried to get the image of what I had just witnessed out of my mind.

I can't quite describe exactly how it feels to transform. At first it feels like your body is being crushed but yet it is not discomforting. For me I guess the closest thing would be it feels like a very intense massage. With each part of your body being pushed, stretched, and then compressed. One by one each of my limbs started to recede and then the compression took hold and I was floating in the air as a shimmering navy light. Leon raised up his arms and I attached to them as he flung them back down my body stretched to match the width of his forearm. Then my light form began to solidify and then with a final shimmering flash I was fully materialized and attached to my meister. I then began to feel the entirety of his anatomy and physiology and could feel the individuality as well as the connections between all his different systems. I could feel his muscles contract and relax pulling on his skeleton as he sprinted away from the house and into the woods behind it. I could sense his heart rate quickening and his respiratory rate increasing as he raced through the trees. I could perceive each and every neuron that had action potentials running through them in order to create his movement and reflexes. This was an ability of mine that me and Leon had dubbed "neural networking". And so long as if I was connected to his wrists I could essentially control or manipulate the soul wavelength energy that is shared between us and could change the way that his physiology worked. In this case I was activating and channeling as much soul energy as I could into the fast-twitch muscle fibers of his legs in order to increase the speed at which he would be able to run.

My meister weaved his way through the tree of the forest a look of concentration on his face. Even without him telling me I knew that he was worried about what we were going to do. We were not supposed to have met any sort of adversary on this mission but had ran into one in less than 15 minutes of arriving at our destination. He put his finger to his ear to activate the communicator that was nestled there.

"Hello this is Delta Squad! We need backup immediately! Our mission has gone completely wrong! There was a kishin in the town we were investigating and we inadvertently made contact with the creature! I repeat we have contact!" He shouted desperately and then waited for a response. "Any one come in!" he said and again waited. "Damn! We are heading through the forest and will be arriving at evacuation point C, if anyone is receiving this then please meet us there as soon as you can!" He then turned his full attention back to the matter at hand. "Where is that thing now?" He asked me as he vaulted over a large fallen trunk.

I took a quick glance behind us and saw that the creature was indeed pursuing us and that despite its size and complex body shape that it was able to move along the path quite quickly. "It's about two-hundred meters back and at our current speed it will overtake us in about 45 seconds." I reported trying my hardest to keep the fear out of my voice.

"Shit! Ok new plan. I am going to need you to put as much power as you can into the strength of my arms, legs, and hands." Said my meister as a plan started to form in his mind.

"But wait if I do that then there is no way that we will be able to out run that kishin." I exclaimed.

"Well we are not going to be able to out run it even at our current top speed and so I am going to be trying something a little bit different. So please just follow my lead and direct the power as I have suggested." He retorted sternly.

"As you wish." I said as I concentrated and directed as much soul energy as I could into the slow-twitch muscle fibers of his arms, legs, and hands. Doing so I knew would increase their strength and dexterity but it would not allow for faster movement or agility. The creature behind us was decreasing the distance between us with every passing second so I made a silent hope that Leon knew what he was doing and that he would put whatever he had planned into action soon It was then that Leon suddenly spun on his heel and I thought for a moment that he was turning in order to face the kishin head on but instead he bounded off of his right foot and launched himself towards the nearest tree. He then kicked off the base of the tree and flew towards the next in which he grabbed a branch and flung himself farther forward, toward the next one.

I was awe struck for a moment. There are barely any words to describe the feeling of traveling in such a way. It felt as if we were flying through the trees as Leon skillfully went from one to the next without missing a beat. He would catch one branch with his hands and then fling himself to the next and then twist and launch himself to another branch which he would catch with his legs and then using the momentum would flip himself over to the next point. Birds would sometimes be startled by the sudden appearance of a boy in their domain and would quickly fly alongside us for a bit as they moved to a less intrusive location. All the while the monster was still chasing after us but now we were out of range of its deathly sharp blades and it seemed to be having trouble making its way through the thicker part of the trees. I was looking up at the clear blue sky with the sun shining brightly all around when a voice pulled me back to reality.

"Clarissa! I need you to concentrate!" Said Leon with strain in his voice.

"Of course!" My bewilderment faded and I returned to the danger at hand. It then became very apparent to me of the condition that my meister was in. While I was increasing his ability to perform these actions there were many things that I was not able to help with since all our power was going to increasing the strength of his limbs. The two things that were most prominent were his reflexes and his stamina. His heart was beating at a dangerous 220 bpm and his respiratory rate was at increasing more and more every second which could cause syncope (temporary loss of consciousness) which would result in us crashing into the ground and getting over taken by the kishin. And then to make matters worse his interneurons of his motor cortex were being pushed to their maximum limit as his reflexes ran in overtime in order to calculate distance, trajectory, impact as well as determine which branches were sturdy and secure enough to allow for his weight and the force of his movements. I could sense the adrenaline pumping through his blood as it made its way to all the part of his body that were being exerted but it was obvious that it was not going to be enough to allow for him to keep this up for too much longer. Then as if on cue the trees thinned out and Leon was forced to touch down onto the ground once more. We had reached a large clearing in the woods one that seemed to have been the result of the neighboring town lumbering this spot for wood. I quickly took control of Leon's heart and lungs forcing soul energy to provided strength and stamina. Or at least until I looked to me left and saw the flash of a blade come flying towards us. I readjusted the wavelength to his left shoulder increasing the dexterity of his skin twenty fold. While the blade was not able to impale my meister the force of the blow sent him tumbling to the ground and he skidded to a halt about ten yards away.

"Well I guess this is as close as we are going to get to the evac point." Stated Leon as he pushed himself off the ground.

"You're right. I think our only option now is to hold out until one of the other teams arrive." I replied

"That's if this thing lives that long" He snarled as his fists clenched tighter and his eyes burned with hatred that I had never seen before. "I am going to need you to increase the defense of my entire body.

"I can't. we do not have enough power to protect it completely.

"I know but trying to protect each part individually against all six of its blades is going to be next to impossible but if everything has an increase then the damage to any part will be reduced. Hopefully turning major wounds into minor slashes." He said as the hatred spread into his voice.

I did not know what was going on with him but knew that he was right and that if we wanted any chance to survive, this was probably the best option. I tuned myself into each layer of his integumentary system and increased the tensile strength as much as I could. Taking priority to his neck, head and vital points and then splitting the rest of our wavelength as evenly as possible. Then once completed my meister rushed forward straight toward the creature. He covered the distance with incredible speed but the kishin was not so slow as to not be able to react to its incoming attacker and slashed towards Leon's midsection with one of its left blades while simultaneously slashing towards his neck with a right blade. The threatening blades closed in upon my meister but at the last moment he dove through the opening between the two blades and slammed his forearms into the monster's midsection and then as the creature staggered back he grabbed onto its midsection in midair and flipped himself so that his legs hooked over the shoulders of the kishin. He then straightened up and delivered four fierce blows to the creatures exposed jaw, tempol, and neck. Leon then twisted with all the strength that he could pulling the creature's head with him and there was a sickening crunch as the monster spun towards the ground while he launched himself off its shoulders which caused the kishin to slam into the ground. My meister landed a couple yards away, his breathing heavy and his arms slightly shaking. He spun his head back only to see the kishin pulling itself upright again. It reached up and twisted its head back into the correct forward position and stared at Leon with what only could be described sinister glint in its eyes.

"Damn! That did not have the effect I was hoping for. It's like I did not even do any damage to it and punching that thing is like punching a brick wall." He lamented as he rubbed his hands. "I am going to need more power if I am ever going to be able to defeat this monster."

"But we need to keep up this defense so that we can hold out until back up arrives." I said restating the plan from ealier.

"Well what if it doesn't arrive? If we keep using our power defensively it will eventually just wear us down until it gets the better of us." He said worry in his voice. "We need to decide which option we should gamble with because I am pretty sure we are not going to be able to change our minds later on." He paused for a moment and then asked his voice shaking. "Clarissa do you trust me?"

"Of course. You are my meister, anything you say goes." I replied

"Well right now I am going to need you to trust me as much as you possibly can and that no matter what happens that you will not intervene." He said as he stared at the opponent that was still trying to get its head back on straight.

"Ok?"

"I need you to direct nonstop soul wavelength energy into my attacks. Forget about defense, forget about stamina, just allow me to attack with as much power as we can. I know I can beat this creature but I need you to put your faith in me and I need you to have my back one-hundred percent." His voice now was filled with both concern and confidence.

"Don't worry I am not going anywhere." I said wholeheartedly.

"Then let's do this!" He shouted as I directed our soul wavelength not into any of his physiological features but straight into his hands and feet. They crackled with a dark electricity as he again charged his adversary. The kishin, fully recovered, turned to face the small figure that was coming at it head on. It reared up on its legs, preparing to bring all four of its blades down upon the figure below it but Leon bounded left and swerved, dodging the incoming slashes and sent a heavy uppercut into the side of the creatures back. The strike exploded with concussive force and the creature screeched in pain. It flung out a left blade and Leon ducked narrowly avowing it as he spun on his foot and threw his other up into the creature's cranium. Another explosion, another screech of pain. The creature then having had enough began a flurry of attacks. Blades flew in every direction. Left. Right. Up. Down. Across. Slant. Leon dodged the ones that were aimed for his vital points but one by one hits would land upon him. He winced and staggered in pain. Blood started to soak through his cloths and the wounds began to open more and more as he kept up evasive actions. I sat helplessly as he took attack after attack, cursing myself for not being able to attack offensively and only being able to direct our power. Leon sank to his knees his head hung down as the creature raised its blades to finish him off. They flew down as I was just about to change tactic and try increasing defense his head snapped up. He grabbed the blades with his hands and yanked the creature forward smashing his head into its skull. Then he pulled back his hand, it shaking with concentrated power, and thrust it straight into the creature's thorax. Penetrating through the skin, muscle and then finally puncturing the monster's heart. The kishin's eyes went wide as it realized that it could no longer move and then fell backward landing on the ground completely immobile. Suddenly a flash shone out and the body disappeared and in its place, all that was left was a simple little floating ball that glowed ever so slightly. I stared in wonder as I looked upon it while my meister asked.

"What the heck is that?" He asked trying to cover up the strain in his voice

"That would be the kishin egg's soul. These are what we as a weapon and meister unit are supposed to collect." I replied.

"Well how do we do that? Do you have some sort of special bag of box to put them in?" He asked with confusion.

"No. the weapons each have a way of taking them. Some absorb, some collect, and some eat. It really just depends upon the weapon." I answered

"Oh well how do you take in the soul then?"

"I am not sure this is the first one that I have ever had the chance to collect." I said as I returned to human form and walked my way over to it. "I guess I would just go over and pick it up." I reached out my hand to grab it when suddenly a sound behind me caused me to spin around. And there standing there was a new figure this one not like the kishin we had just finished off but it was a completely humanoid figure clad in a black cloak with a hood and that that could be seen was two unfeeling eyes. He had my meister in his hand as he hoisted him up into the air with one arm and then raised his other hand which contained a dagger that had a sickly green sheen to the blade. He pierced Leon's neck ever so slightly and then threw his limp body over at my feet.

"LEON!" I screamed as I knelt down beside him. The small puncture on his neck was emanating a foul-smelling odor and small green lines were growing from the wound. This had to be a poison but what could I do? I stared down at my unconscious meister as the cloaked figure began to make his way closer towards me. His poisonous blade still in hand. He raised the dagger ready to finish us off, I lowered my body to protect the dying boy who laid before me, as his blood dripped from the knife and landed on my cheek.

Part 3: The No Contact Mission End


	4. Bloodties

Part 4: Bloodties

Everything was black. My body felt completely numb. The world felt like it was spiraling down in a never ending current. Then a sudden warmth hit my face as a voice called out to me from a short distance away.

"Come on broda! Play with me!"

I opened my eyes and was met with the blinding light of the sun. I raised my arm to shield them from its intense rays and observed the scene before me. I was sitting in an old rocking chair on a creaky broken down porch that lead out to a yard surrounded by a tall wooden fence on all sides. The yard was simple enough, with mowed grass, a small shed and a clothes line that was in long need of repairs. There was a single large maple tree in the corner of the yard. The maple was fully grown and was tall and sturdy with many branches that housed all the shimmering green leaves. A rope swing was tied to one of the lowest branches. And on that rope swing stood a small little figure in shorts and a bright pink shirt. The little figure was that of a four year old girl. She had dark black hair, like mine, which was braided into twin pig tails that flipped around as she stood on the seat of the swing, trying to push herself forward. Her hazel eyes stared intently at me as she waited for me to do something. Then her small mouth twisted into a frustrated frown, obviously not pleased with the delay to her command.

"Enju! Get down from there before you hurt yourself! You know that is not the proper way to be on a swing." I yelled at the small little demon that I call a sister.

"Why don't you come ova here and make me den!" She taunted as a smile appeared upon her face and she stuck her tongue out at me while pushing herself on the swing more fiercely.

"Why you little! You asked for it!" I exclaimed as I quickly rose from where I had been seated and rushed over to the other side of the yard, towards the little girl who had now jumped down from the swing and was running in the other direction squealing in delight.

"You can't catch me!" she said as she tried to dash behind the shed.

"You want to bet?" I replied as I caught her around her midsection before she could make it behind the shed and hoisted her up in the air, her little legs and arms flailing as she giggled. I pulled her in close and spun around as fast as I could, causing both of us to become very dizzy. I wobbily held the tiny person before falling to the grass with her on top of me. We both just laid there for a little while, laughing and trying to get ourselves oriented. Finally, once the world around me had become right again I looked down at the little person who was laying across my chest and asked.

"So, what are you thinking we should have for dinner small fry?"

She unsteadily pushed herself up and sat next me for a moment contemplating my question. "Tacos!" She finally answered with the biggest smile upon her face.

"Oh come on. We have had tacos twice already this week." I stated to her. "Why don't you think of something else."

"No. I want tacos." She repeated with a stern expression on her face.

I let out a deep sigh. "Alright I will make you tacos. But I think I will make myself some spaghetti." I said knowing that I really did not need to make the tacos because once I made my food she would instantly change her mind and want what I was having and would even resort to stealing it off my plate if necessary. "Come on then. Let's go get ourselves washed up so that we can start to make our meal." And with that I rose from the ground and grabbed my little sister's hand and helped her get to her feet and we both walked back into the house together.

The house was nothing special and was honestly the most run-down place on the street. Some of the neighbors were wanting to have it torn down so that a newer remodeled one could be built in its place but this is where we had been living for the past five years. It had been the perfect place for us to buy since the former owner did not want much for it and as long as if we had taken it as is then he offered it at a very low price. We had to settle for a place like this ever since my father had been killed in combat a few months prior. He was sent out on assignment a year or so before and we would always receive a letter in the mail along with some money to support us but then the letters stop coming and the military officers had knocked on our door. The only thing we had to remember him by was an old sword that hung in our living room. It was not something he had actually used in the military but was just something he had bought on one of his deployments because in his words "It looked awesome". After that it had just be me and my mother and we made by with the most that we could. Since we had no real family left anymore we had to make due on our own. And after my father had died my mother had fallen into a very unstable state. It only got worse after Enju was born. She had trouble finding a grip on reality and many times I would come home from school to find Enju crying in the room while my mother was staring and talking at the wall. I eventually was able to get her some help at a local hospital and also found a person to watch over Enju while I was away at school. She was doing better now and was keeping up with her job that was until about a week ago when something in her snapped and she had been admitted back into the psychiatric ward. But I knew I still could take care of Enju if needed and that I just had to hold out hope that she would get better soon.

Me and Enju both took turns changing and washing our faces of the dirt and grime from outside and then went out to the kitchen to work on dinner. I would always allow her to help since honestly there was not much else for her to do around our house since we did not have any television, computer, or radio. Mostly she just stood next at the counter on a chair watching as I sliced the tomatoes and herbs that I like to make my sauce with. She would always ask what she could do and I would most of the time find some sort of task for her to do. This time I got out some bread and some garlic paste with a pastry brush and told her to apply some of it to the bread so that it could be baked as our side dish. Inevitably she would somehow manage to not only spread it over the bread but also to her face as well and then of course would take the brush and start trying to paint my face too. After about forty-five minutes our meal was ready and we sat down at our little dining room table. She began scooping and slurping the spaghetti into her mouth rapidly and then tried to stuff the bread in after it.

"Would you like a trough to eat out of?" I said mockingly.

"Huh?" She looked back at me in puzzlement as she had finally chewed her food enough to swallow most of it. "Can I have more?" She asked as she held up her plate with sauce and crumbs falling from her face.

"Yes of course you can my tiny piggy." I chuckled as I got up to get her some more food. "So are you excited for school? You will be starting within the next month or so." I asked as I finally sat back down and was able to take a few bites of my own food.

Her head dropped. "Well I don't know. Will you be dere broda? She looked at me pleadingly.

"I am sorry Enju. I will be at my school at that time but I promise that it will be alright. You will be there with a bunch of kids your own age and can make a bunch of new friends."

"Oh. Alright." She said her face becoming sullen.

"And hey at least now you will actually be able to get away from some of them and prevent them from doing this…" I then reached over and grabbed a piece of her garlic bread. She lunged forward to grab my hand and prevent my theft of her food but she was a little too slow and I crammed the whole thing into my mouth right before her eyes. "See no more big mean person messing with you." I said with my mouth still full of bread.

She smiled for a minute before the sadness came back. "But still. I don't really want to go dere broda. I would rada stay here wid you." She said before she went back to finishing her food, now much more slowly than before.

"I know you would. Believe me I wish I could stay here with you instead as well. But you have to go this is a very auspicious school one in which will take care of you and train you as well. You're special and believe me when I say that you are going to do great things." I said as I walked around the table and stroked her tiny head before ruffling her hair the way that she hated and for her to shoot daggers at me with her eyes but with a slight smile upon her face. "Come on. Since I made the meal. You have to do the dishes"

"Nah uh. I made it too! Did you see de bread? I made dat." She wailed.

"Oh so the bread was the meal tonight and the spaghetti and sauce were there side dish?" I said and she shook her head vigorously up and down. "My I had no idea, well then…." I leaned down and hugged her with my free arm. "Thank you for the meal dear sister. Now why don't you go and pick out tonight's book while I finish up the dishes."

"Yay!" She beamed as she threw her arms around my neck into a tight embrace and then trotted out of the room to pick out the book that we would read together tonight.

Once I had readied up the kitchen, I walked out into the living room and sat down on the sofa with my sister. She held up the paperback novel that she had chosen for our story. It was one that we had read a billion times before but she loved to hear it. It was a very common tale of a mysterious warrior who travelled across the land in the search of his kidnapped love, having to face goblins, ogres, and dragons along the way. We took turns reading. Me helping her with most of the words but I made sure she read some pages every night. And I would get up and act out any of the action sequences. Using an old tattered umbrella as my sword and a baking sheet as my shield. Enju laughed and clapped as her imaginary warrior defeated monster after monster. Emerging victorious no matter the odds. Eventually she fell asleep next to me. Her small head burying itself under my arm. I then picked her up and carry her to bed. We of course only had two bedrooms and one was our mom's the other was ours and we also had to share an old rickety bed. I laid her gently down and tucked her in.

"Good night Enju. Pleasant dreams" I whispered as I stroked her hair a few times before going over to my side of the bed and laying down and drifting off to sleep myself.

….

A small crash caused my eyes to snap awake. I quickly sat up, looked to my right and saw that my little sister was still laying there sound asleep, hugging her pillow like a teddy bear. I quietly and carefully got out of bed trying not to wake Enju.

"Probably just those damn rats again." I cursed to myself as I made my way over and grabbed one of the hardback books that we kept in a pile on a desk in the corner of the room. "We really need to find a better place."

I made my way down the short hallway and turned the corner and walked into the living room. I looked around and noticed two things. One was that the door was open, letting in a cool summer night's breeze and allowing in the moonlight which casted dark shadows around the room. The second was that in the middle of the room stood a person. The person had their back to me but they were small, probably only about five feet three. They had long hair tied back in a ponytail and they seemed to be just standing there muttering to themselves. I could see that they were holding something in their left hand and from the shape, it looked like maybe a bag but I could not make it out from this distance. I stood there for a moment trying to figure out what to do. Should I run and try to get help, but the only real exit was the one the intruder was standing in front of and I could not leave Enju in here alone for any amount of time. Calling was also out since the phone was situated in the living room next to the sofa. The figure then started to walk into the kitchen whistling. _Wait a minute. I know that tune._ I thought to myself. There was only one person I knew who whistled that tune but always missed the one note right in the bridge.

"Mom?" I called out, ninety-nine percent sure that I was correct about the identity of the mystery intruder.

The figure stopped but did not turn around. They were still whistling and seemed to find the oven particularly interesting. I decided to step a bit closer to try and get a better look. Once I was a few feet away the angle of the moon finally cast a glow across their face and that is when I could fully tell who it was. The black hair, the small nose, the slender yet firm jawline. There was no mistaking that that was indeed my mother. I let out a sigh of relief and started to walk closer when I stopped dead in my tracks. Something was amiss. The hospital always had me pick her up when they released her. And the way that my mother just stood there staring and still whistling, not even acknowledging my presence. Then her head turn towards me and my heart leaped out of my chest, because there stood my mother her face drenched in blood, scratch marks crisscrossed her delicate features, her eyes cold and cruel. And then I looked down and what I had thought had been a bag was actually the severed head of a man, his jaw hanging uselessly but his eyes still had the look as if to say "Run away. Run away now".

Her hand flew upward and the shine of metal hit my eyes as the scalpel grazed across my left shoulder. The pain did not even register as another swipe came for me and caught me in one of my ribs. I quickly backed away trying to recover from my stupor.

"Mom! Stop! What are you doing! It's me! It's me Leon!" I pleaded as she lunged forward trying to pierce my right arm with the blade. "Come on snap out of it! What is the matter with you!" I yelled as I dove farther into the living room to evade another onslaught of attacks.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!" She cackled as she rushed in after me.

"Help some…!" I screamed out before my foot hit the bottom of the coffee table and I crashed to the floor. My mother then pounced on top of me. The deadly blade was plunged down towards my chest. I caught her hand with my own. "Mother! Come on you know you must stop this!" I exclaimed as I tried to hold back her arm which was using power I never knew she had. Her other hand then came crashing down. Once, twice, a third time. Each one hitting me in the exposed portions of my midsection. I then grabbed the other hand, moved my hips and legs and then reached up and circled her head with my legs then pulled, causing her to be yanked off of me and flinging her into the wall at the farther end of the room. She got unsteadily to her feet and looked at me with such a sinister glare that my blood ran cold. She raised her hand and then noticed that the blade was no longer there since it had gone skidding away somewhere after she had been thrown.

"Please! Enough of this! I do not want to hurt you mom!" I begged as I out my hands in cautiously. She held up her hands put her head against the wall. "It's ok. Just calm down now." I spoke slowly and softly with as much compassion as I could. I then started to hear sniffling and inched a bit closer. "It's all over now. Things are going to be just fine." I stated as I put a hand on her shoulder. Then I noticed her mouth twist upward in a smile as her elbow flew down to the side of my head causing me to stumble left into the wall. I then heard a screech of metal and then a second later a huge force slammed me in the chest. I looked down and there it was. The blade of my father's silly sword was now protruding out of the right side of my chest. I gasped for air as my heart started to beat even faster. I tried to move forward but the blade had gone completely through and was imbedding itself in the wall behind me holding me in place. The woman standing before me inched her way closer, until I could smell the blood that she was encompassed in. Her smile grew wider as she took hold of the hilt and began twisting it clockwise. The sword responded to her force and slowly began turning inside of me. Each inch tearing away muscle, sinew, and flesh. I rasped as the torture continued until I small creak came from the other side of the room.

"Broda.? Where are you broda?" called the other person in the house sleepily.

I tried to call out but all that I could do was grunt as the pain in my chest became even worse. My mother then turned around and walked to the other side of the room. _I need to get up! I have to help Enju!_ I fiercely thought as I tried to move my body but it would not cooperate. The figure was now standing a little away from my sister staring down at her small body intently. Enju rubbed her eyes and then looked up.

"Moda?" She questioned as she gazed at the person standing before her. "Welcome home moda!" She squealed as she ran forward and flung her arms around her mother's midsection.

Again, I tried to move my body, I twisted and wriggled against the blade that was imprisoning me. But no matter how hard I tried the blade would not budge. It was then that the hands of the woman fell upon the little girl's shoulders and time seemed to slow down as the small figure was ripped away and thrown to the floor. The larger figure laughed as she stepped forward and slammed the side of her shoe into the small one's frame. I pushed against the wall harder as the world began to spin around me. The woman kneeled down next to the Enju as she tried to crawl away pulling her back and holding her wrists together with one hand. I forced myself forward burying the blade deeper into my chest until I hit the hilt. Then Enju started to scream as fist came down and smashed against her face. I felt my muscles rip as I slammed my weight against the hilt of the blade trying to force it out of the wall. The figure leaned over and grabbed something off the floor, it was her scalpel that she had lost earlier. I shoved harder against what was detaining me and heard the sound metal scraping against the wood behind me. The woman looked down at the small body that was limply struggling to free herself as she spun the blade around in her hand. The wall behind me creaked as the blade resisted my efforts to force it out. The small blade then came down and embedded itself in Enju's thigh, she screamed as my imprisoning sword moved forward just an inch. The blade came back up and then slashed across her forearm. Another scream. Another inch. Another scream. Another inch. Another scream. Another inch. Enju then looked around and saw me, she reached out her hand, a desperate plea in her eyes as the blade trusted down into her chest.

"Nooooooooooooooooooooo!" I screamed hearing the sickening crunch of the ribs being ripped apart. Then the sword broke free from the wall and I plummeted to the floor. The woman shot up and stumbled backward in surprise, letting go of my little sister. I crawled forward and gripped her tiny hand. There was no grip back as I put my head next to hers I could hear shallow breaths still being drawn in. Then the breathing stopped, the pulse faded and her final tear hit the floor.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The lone standing figure started to laugh again as she regained her composer. I tried to push myself up off the ground but only managed to kneel next to the tiny body next to me, the gashes, and wounds even noticeable in the dark. I looked down at Enju's face and I numbly took the hilt of the blade in both hands and pulled as hard as I could. The blade moved with a lot less resistance when moving through my body than it had with the wall. The sword tip finally receded from my chest and clattered to the floor. I looked down at it and saw that the blade was completely crimson. It shone like the darkest blade of hell as the moonlight reflected off the blood. My blood. I gripped the hilt again and tried to heave it upward but the blade was immobile again. I heard footsteps as the figure came over and threw a right hook into the side of my jaw. I tumbled to the other side of the room landing in the pool of blood that had been made by me. I rose again to my knees as the woman picked up the sword and began to make her way back over to me. I reached over and grabbed the nearest thing that I could as the blade came slashing down at me.

There was a clang of metal against metal as the weapon rebounded off the baking sheet that I had shielded myself with. The blade came down a second and third time. Each time I protected myself with the small sheet of metal. I then grabbed the other object near my person and rolled to the left as the sword was plunged down in the spot where I had been laying moments ago. I hoisted myself unsteadily to my feet, my legs threatening to crumble at any moment while I lofted the tattered umbrella in my hand. I sidestepped an overhead attack and ducked under the horizontal swipe before pushing forward with my make shift shield and slamming it straight into my attacker's gut. She stumbled slightly and then swung again, catching me in the left arm. She then slashed at my midsection, chest. I dodged as best as I could but found myself still receiving blows. I felt as the sword grazed against my back multiple times as my legs shook and I crumpled to my knees. The woman then stepped backward, going for her final strike but when she did she nearly tripped over the small figure that laid on the floor. She recovered and then delivered a solid kick to the lifeless body that had interrupted her, sending it sliding across the floor.

I watched as the body came to halt. I felt my blood start to boil. I felt my mind lose all reason as I dropped the shield and charged straight forward. I lunged with as much strength as I had and plunged the metal umbrella straight into the abdomen of my attacker. Her eyes went wide as she coughed from her diaphragm being punctured. She raised the sword above her head to again impale me with its blade but I took her head in my hand and spun around and snapped it back over my shoulder. There was a crack as the cervical vertebra were broken and the body slumped to the floor. I looked down at the body that lay at my feet, its eyes still wide open except now there was no cruelty behind them, there was no sinister glint, they were my mother's eyes once more.

I limped over to the small body that lay at the other side of the room. A small puddle of blood could be see forming under it now. I collapsed next to it and struggled to lift it into my arms.

"Enju!" I lamented. "Enju, I'm so sorry! I wasn't strong enough! I'm so sor…. Gah!" I coughed up blood and it splatter across her face. I tried to wipe it away but it just smeared across like a large gash. "Please just don't leave me! You are all that I have! The only family I have lef…." I fell forward and everything went black.

Back in the black void. My body was growing colder and colder by the minute. Then my name rang out again. I felt warmth across my chest a person covered my body with their own. I heard the person scream. Then suddenly another voice echoed a little way to my right.

"SPEED STAR!"

I felt a gust of wind as metal clashed against metal again and again. Then I felt myself being lifted up and then resting back down except not on the hard ground as before. Then my body started to heat up. The intensity growing. I felt myself being engulfed in flames. I cursed as this has to be how being dragged down to hell must be. Then I heard a pleading voice.

"Come back to me! Please just come back! I'm so sorry Leon! Just come back!

Then the burning stopped, my body regained movement, and my eyes flew open.

Part 4: Bloodties End


End file.
